A computer network is composed of a set of nodes and a set of links that connect one node to another. For instance, a computer network may be composed of a set of routers while the set of links may be cables between the routers. When a first node in the network sends a message to a second node in the network, the message may pass through many links and many nodes. The set of links and nodes that the message passes through while traveling from the first node to the second node is referred to as a path through the network.
Network traffic may travel along the paths, passing through the routers, which may perform one or more operations in addition to routing the network traffic along the path. One such operation may include general flow-specific information gathering. That is, a router may collect information concerning flows of network traffic. A flow may be identified by a so-called five-tuple that includes a source address, a source port, a destination address, a destination port, and a protocol. The flow information may include statistics regarding traffic loads, such as a number of packets per flow per minute or an amount of data per flow per minute. As one example, the router may collect the flow information to provide local insight into network traffic loads.
Using an export protocol, the router may export the flow information. An example of an export protocol includes the Internet protocol flow information export (IPFIX) protocol defined in requests for comments (RFCs) 7011-7015. The router may export the flow information to allow for a number of different operations. For example, the router may export the flow information to a central managing device (such as a software defined network controller) to allow for redirection of traffic flows to avoid congesting identified, in part, by the exported flow information.